Writing Helpful Reviews
The
main purpose of a referee review is to help the editorial panel
decide whether or not a paper should be accepted for publication
in Teaching Children Mathematics (TCM). To be helpful,
the referee needs to be specific and explicit in pointing to
strengths and weaknesses.
A referee review should contain five elements:
- Summary.
This should be a brief synopsis of the main ideas in the article.
It not only helps the editorial panel member recall the article,
but also gives evidence of what the reviewer considered most
important.
- Identification
of the article's strengths. This is an important element
of encouragement for the author(s) of the article, especially
for first-time authors.
- Identification
of the article's weaknesses.
This should be done in a way that supports the reviewer's
decision for rejection or revision. This list of weaknesses
will guide the editorial panel member in his or her suggestions
to the author(s) for submitting a new or revised article.
- Recommendations
to the editorial panel. Recommendations should have a
rationale.
- Comments
and suggestions to the author. These should guide the
author to prepare an improved version, or help the author
understand why the paper is not suitable for publication in
this journal.
